Albany State

Seminole's Sheri Reddicks, a first-team, all-state selection, plans to sign a letter of intent this week to play basketball for Albany State, in Albany, Ga., the alma mater of Julius Francis, Seminole's assistant girls basketball coach. Reddicks, a 6-foot center, led the county in three categories: points per game (25.0), rebounds per game (15.0) and blocked shots per game (2.5). She led the Fighting Seminoles to a second consecutive region championship. Seminole lost the section game to Haines City by one point.

The Rollins softball team won both games of a doubleheader against Albany State on Friday, 10-0 and 9-4 in Winter Park. Center fielder Lauren Winney led the Tars (30-9) in Game One with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs while Nicole Anderson hurled a 2-hitter with 14 strikeouts. In the second game, Amanda DeFilippo had 3 hits and 2 RBIs and Winney added 4 more hits. UCF outlasts Stetson The UCF women's tennis team outlasted Stetson (10-11) 5-2 on Friday afternoon at Mandy Stoll Tennis Center in DeLand.

Bethune-Cookman College's decline in football in recent years has been noticeable in its series with Albany (Ga.) State.Albany State, after managing only four victories and a tie in the first 35 meetings with B-CC, has rebounded to win the past three since the rivalry resumed in 1989.How much has B-CC fallen since winning the final five games of the series before it ended in 1981? Quite a bit. Albany State, a Division II school, has outscored B-CC, 100-31, in its three victories.''Every year for the past three years, they have been a thorn in B-CC's side,'' B-CC linebacker Terrence Carey said.

Maryland Athletic Director Debbie Yow expects the school to avoid significant NCAA sanctions over a suspected recruiting violation in February. The school hired outside consultants to conduct an investigation after then-assistant coach Rod Sharpless allegedly provided $335 to prospective recruit Victor Abiamiri. The school fired the coach, reported its findings to the NCAA and ceased actively recruiting Abiamiri. A report in Thursday's Washington Post said the NCAA infractions committee is expected to announce as early as next week that the violation is a "major infraction."

On the left side of the living room in Bill Perry's home, plaques and trophies, tributes to his basketball career, hang on the wall and sit on a bookcase. On the right side Tuesday afternoon, sat another tribute to Perry's career, Albany State College basketball coach Oliver Jones.Jones was at Perry's house to sign him to an NCAA national letter-of-intent, which binds Perry to the Golden Rams. The signing took place in that living room cramped with family members, Jones and Eustis coach Mike Herring.

The skinny kid from Bronson who never thought he would play basketball at a four-year college will have that chance.Nick Aukamp, a small-town center signed by Lake-Sumter Community College because of his potential, signed a letter-of-intent last week with Albany State (Ga.) College.For Aukamp, a 6-foot-8 1/2 center who had played but a year of high school basketball when LSCC Coach Jon Scarbrough signed him, the prospects of helping Albany State is a dream come true.''I saw myself coming here and playing my two years of ball and that was it,'' Aukamp said.

Although Oliver Jones, the basketball coach at Albany (Ga.) State University, already had used all his basketball grants, his team may have added another player last week when Umatilla's Norris Bonds signed a track grant-in-aid with the Golden Rams.Bonds, 17, may be attending Albany State in the fall on a track grant, but make no mistakes about it, he is going there to try to play basketball. And, he will be doing it with track coach Hugh Hicks' blessings.Bonds signed the grant with Hicks during a visit to Albany State's campus last Wednesday.

Albany State coach Hampton Smith had never faced an opponent quite as devastating as the one he encountered this summer. The Golden Rams couldn't devise a game plan to stop the ravaging flood waters in Albany, Ga.''The flood was a mean, mean thing,'' Smith said. ''It was an ugly sight.''The river that runs behind the school crested at 46 feet - 9 feet higher than the dike. It ruined 28 of 31 buildings on campus, destroyed all the football team's equipment and its practice field.''A writer from the Atlanta Constitution-Journal called me and asked me if we were going to have a football team.

Bethune-Cookman College, fresh off back-to-back overtime victories over traditional Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference powers Howard University and South Carolina State, dominated NCAA Division II Albany State College in every category but the score Saturday.The Wildcats, who came into the contest with a 4-2 mark, outpassed Albany State by a 309-205 margin, outrushed them by a 163-49 margin and rolled up 32 first downs to only 14 for the host Rams.But the Rams barely avoided their third last-play loss of the season and held on for a 30-25 homecoming victory that snapped a five-game losing streak.

Chiquita Wright's 3-pointer with .56 of a second remaining Thursday night gave Albany State (22-8) a 63-62 victory over Rollins College (23-6) in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women's South Regional Tournament.Albany State led, 36-33, at the half, thanks to 17 points by Wright.After trading baskets for the first four minutes of the second half, Rollins went on an 11-2 run to take a 56-46 lead with 5:30 remaining.ASU held Rollins without a field goal for the final 6:16.Rollins shot 61 percent from the free-throw line in the second half, and missed two front ends of one-and-one situations in the final three minutes.

Rollins College junior Tami Newcomb had been unhappy with her shooting form during the week, so the point guard took some extra time to shoot 50 outside shots and 50 free throws after each practice.The extra effort paid off as Newcomb scored a team- and career-high 14 points in the Tars' 74-64 victory over Albany State on Saturday night in front of a sparse crowd at the Enyart-Alumni Fieldhouse.''I just hadn't been doing so well so I thought I needed the extra work,'' said Newcomb, whose main job for the Tars is get the ball to the scorer.

One sure sign that things have improved at Bethune-Cookman College: There won't be a six-game losing streak this season. The Wildcats' 40-28 victory at Albany State put a premature end to the traditional skid at four. B-CC has gone through a six-game losing streak each of the past three seasons.''It's good to get back on track again,'' B-CC coach Cy McClairen said. ''The difference this time was we were facing a completely different level of competition. Last year, we beat Knoxville, a Division II team out of nowhere.

Bethune-Cookman College dominated the clock in the second half Saturday, keeping Albany State's high-powered offense off the field, and the Wildcats knocked off the Rams, 40-28, before an overflow homecoming crowd of 13,783 at Hugh Mills Stadium.The victory snapped a four-game skid for B-CC (3-4) and the six-game winning streak of Albany State (6-2).The Division I-AA Wildcats kept the ball for 38 minutes and 82 offensive plays. B-CC's Todd Walker of Macon, Ga., completed 16 of 28 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns, two to Morris Noble.

After further review, Bethune-Cookman still is fuming.The Wildcats (2-6) were mad after running back Keith Brown was called for holding on a successful 2-point conversion that would have given B-CC a one-point lead over Albany State with 2:33 to play. The Wildcats, who lost, 30-29, were red hot after watching the video.''It wasn't holding unless the camera managed to change it some way,'' B-CC coach Cy McClairen said. ''I hate to jump on the referees, but we were doomed. If it wasn't that, it was going to be something else.

Bethune-Cookman's football team is scoring touchdowns. It's what happens afterward that dooms the Wildcats.For the second consecutive week, B-CC's failure to convert extra-point attempts cost the Wildcats the game.On Saturday, two missed extra points hurt the Wildcats as they lost, 30-29, to Albany State before a crowd of 5,376 at Municipal Stadium.It was B-CC's sixth loss in a row, and the third loss in three weeks decided by two points or less.A week before, B-CC (2-6) failed on a two-point conversion attempt late in the game and lost, 28-26, to South Carolina State.

Bethune-Cookman, already owning a place in the program's storied annals for the worst start in history, put the closing chapter on that dubious distinction Saturday with a 14-7 victory against Albany State at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium.B-CC (1-6), which surpassed the 0-5 start by the 1958 team, averted enhancing that mark in front of a homecoming crowd of 8,501 by showcasing few traits associated with a winless team.The Wildcats combined an outstanding defensive effort with a ball-control offense to earn their first home victory since an Oct. 12 triumph against Howard last season.

Wanted: One offense. Please address all inquiries to the Florida A&M football team.FAMU's offense stumbled through another unproductive evening Saturday at Bragg Stadium, as the Rattlers fell to Albany (Ga.) State, 13-2, before 10,926 fans.The Rattlers (1-4) have been outscored 129-60 in their five games.''The mark of a good football team is being able to drive and score,'' FAMU Coach Ken Riley said. ''We haven't been doing that.''Neither team was able to generate much offense in the first quarter.

Albany State coach Hampton Smith had never faced an opponent quite as devastating as the one he encountered this summer. The Golden Rams couldn't devise a game plan to stop the ravaging flood waters in Albany, Ga.''The flood was a mean, mean thing,'' Smith said. ''It was an ugly sight.''The river that runs behind the school crested at 46 feet - 9 feet higher than the dike. It ruined 28 of 31 buildings on campus, destroyed all the football team's equipment and its practice field.''A writer from the Atlanta Constitution-Journal called me and asked me if we were going to have a football team.

Reports continue to circulate around Florida A&M that when coach Ken Riley leads the Rattlers against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday in Tampa, it will be his last game as FAMU's coach.Riley, who has been dogged by rumors of his removal since the Rattlers stopped winning in September, has tried to keep his players focused on the annual showdown against the Wildcats - often without success.''This is our biggest game of the year against our biggest rival,'' Riley said. ''These kids need to win this one. No matter what happens to me, that's the game they'll remember.